The Rise of China

Right before break, Americans for Informed Democracy hosted a panel titled "The Rise of China: American Security and the Political, Social, and Cultural Consequences of Economic Development", the first panel in a series on Rising Nations. Despite the panel being so close to Thanksgiving, there was a good turnout to hear Professor Ross of the BC Political Science Department and Professor Fewsmith of the BU International Relations Department discuss the effects of China's rapid ascension to relevance on the global stage. Each professor was given time to explain his views on the impact of the rise of China. Professor Ross focused his analysis of China's rise on its affects on US policies toward other Asian nations. Professor Fewsmith took up the economic and cultural changes that have occurred across China as the result of unexpected political changes and evolution in the past thirty years. At the end, the panel was opened up to questions from the audience, who ended up having a lot to say, and so gave the professors further chance to really get into the details about the Rise of China.

Professor Ross began his opinion by explaining that in "catching up" to the rest of the developed world, and becoming relatively more powerful, China has caused other nations to be relatively less powerful on the world stage. As a result of this changing in the global power structure, policies of other nations toward China and toward one another naturally need to evolve as well. Through the examples of South Korea and Taiwan, Professor Ross discussed the development of new Asian alliances with China versus the US, with the two mentioned above becoming much more dependent on and attuned to Chinese policy, rather than US relations. In the case of those two nations, the US has had to accept its lesser position to China, and has been accommodating toward the rise of China in that respect. Elsewhere in Asia, though, the US has been building up troops and weapons so as not to be standing by idly while China becomes a major world power. American buildup in the rest of East Asia represents a subtle method of resistance to the rise of China. Professor Ross then concluded that as such, the rise of China is creating two Asias - one bound mainly to the interests of China, and the other tied ever closer to US policy.

Professor Fewsmith started off his analysis discussing China's recent growth as the result of some drastic alterations to its political structure that have set the nation up for economic development. Such changes that China needed for development, that is has had for the past 30 off years now, are bureaucrats in charge of the political structure, and institutionalization, as opposed to the cult of personality of Mao Zedong. An interesting point that Professor Fewsmith made was about how there has been toleration in China for some corruption, as long as the promise of economic growth is realized. Interestingly, Professor Fewsmith argued that the Chinese economy really took off because of corruption in the system. The political system has also changed so that more and more economic elites also wield significant political power. With this rise of elitism, which is a cause of the rise of China, there as has also been a rise of populist movements as a counter. Professor Fewsmith indicated that while the elitist eastern coast of China has been on the rise an experiencing growth in recent years, the lower-class interior of the country is floundering. Such a conflict of interests in China would have influences on future growth.

The questions and answer portion of the panel had to do mainly with Sino-American relations. Professors Ross and Fewsmith went over the Chinese response to the current US financial situation, pointing out that the Chinese government has created a stimulus package for Chinese citizens. This package follows a recent trend of de-urbanization in China, where around seven million Chinese workers have moved back into rural areas, where there is little to no productive work for them. Compared to the US, though, China is better able to handle mass unemployment, as it has more resources designated toward maintaining the stability of the nation. The Rise of China event was a definite success judging by the interest shown in the topic through the question and answer portion of the panel. The inaugural panel in the Rising Nations series has set a good precedent for future panels.